Cathedral attendance figures rose for the fifth year in succession in 2025 and rebounded consistently after the Covid pandemic.

Attendance overall remained lower than in 2019, but Easter attendance drew level with pre-pandemic figures for the first time.

A total of 32,600 people attended weekly services at Church of England cathedrals in 2025, as opposed to 36,800 in 2019. Sunday attendance was up among adults in 2025 — eight per cent higher than in 2024, when weekly attendance had risen by one tenth (News, 5 September, 2025).

Christmas attendance in 2025 was up by six per cent, and there was a five-per-cent rise in Easter attendance. But child mid-week attendance was still 38 per cent lower in 2025 than in 2019.

Read it all.

⛪️ Attendance overall remained lower than in 2019, but Easter attendance drew level with pre-pandemic figures for the first time. #Cathedrals #ChurchTimes #ChurchNews https://t.co/JYVoteZgi8

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) July 31, 2026

What we have realised, over the last five years, as Save the Parish has got off the ground and started to ask the questions that should have been asked decades ago, is that what we are in danger of losing is not just some old buildings, or the clerical stipend, or one mode of training over another, but the essence of the Church of England itself.

Who are we? What is the unique ecology of the Church of England, which we love so dearly that we have got up and come here on a Saturday morning?

“If the Church of England were to fail,” said John Keble, “it should be found in my parish.”

Or, listen to Justin Welby, who, I concede isn’t often quoted by Save the Parish: “you could lose the House of Bishops tonight…[and] it’d be a couple of years before there was any noticeable impact on the Church of England. Whereas if you got rid of all the parishes and the churchwardens and the laypeople it would be noticeable in about one second.”

Well, we are here for the parishes and the churchwardens and the laypeople today. And for the priests. (I do declare an interest…)

Read it all.

Last night people from across the country – lay and clergy; Evangelical, High Church, Solidly Middle, Anglo Catholic; Tory, LibDem, Labour – gathered to pledge to Save the Parish.

Alison Milbank, @revstrott, and I all shared our thoughts – have a watch!https://t.co/nV43HmzWee pic.twitter.com/DuCnbEYNkt

— Marcus Walker (@WalkerMarcus) August 4, 2021

More than a thousand people queued to join a prayer gathering at a church in East London as temperatures soared above 30 degree Celsius on a Monday evening in early July. 

SAINT, the church community which meets at Hackney Church, hosted an evening of sung worship and prayer in collaboration with two other Anglican churches in London, King’s Cross Church (KXC) and IMPRINT Church, the parish church of St Mary Woolnoth, St Edmund the King and St Clement Eastcheap in Bank, City of London. 

This was the latest in a series of similar evenings, which the trio of churches gather for six times per year, entitled the Joint Prayer Gathering. 

Read it all.

More than a thousand people queued to join a prayer gathering at a church in East London recently.

The Joint Prayer Gathering is an initiative from a trio of churches, hosting evenings of sung worship and prayer six times a year.

Read more at https://t.co/IBjgTB5mvN.

— The Church of England (@churchofengland) July 30, 2026

It was in 1787 that he first decided to put down a motion in the House of Commons about the slave trade. This nefarious traffic had been going on for three centuries, and the West Indian slave-owners were determined to oppose abolition to the end. Besides, Wilberforce was not a very prepossessing man. He was little and somewhat ugly, with poor eyesight and an upturned nose. When Boswell heard him speak, he pronounced him ‘a perfect shrimp’, but then had to concede that ‘presently the shrimp swelled into a whale.’ In 1789 Wilberforce said of the slave trade: “So enormous so dreadful, so irremediable did its wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for the abolition…. let the consequences be what they would, I from this time determined that I would never rest till I had effected its abolition.

So abolition bills (which related to the trade) and Foreign Trade Bills (which would prohibit the involvement of British ships in it) were debated in the commons in 1789, 1791, 1792,194, 1796 (by which time Abolition had become ‘the grand object of my parliamentary existence’), 1798 and 1799. Yet they all failed. The Foreign Slave Bill was not passed until 1806 and the Abolition of the Slave Trade Bill until 1807. This part of the campaign had taken eighteen years.

Next, soon after the conclusion of the Napoleonic wars, Wilberforce began to direct his energies to the abolition of slavery itself and the emancipation of the slaves. In 1823 the Anti-Slavery Society was formed. Twice that year and twice the following year, Wilberforce pleaded the slaves’ cause in the House of Commons. But in 1825 ill-health compelled him to resign as a member of parliament and to continue his campaign from outside. In 1831 he sent a message to the Anti-Slavery Society, in which he said, “Our motto must continue to be PERSEVERANCE. And ultimately I trust the Almighty will crown our efforts with success.” He did. In July 1833 the Abolition of Slavery Bill was passed in both Houses of Parliament, even though it included the undertaking to pay 20 million pounds in compensation to the slave-owners. ‘Thank God,’ wrote Wilberforce, that I have lived to witness a day in which England is willing to give 20 million pounds for the abolition of slavery.’ Three days later he died. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, in national recognition of his FORTY-FIVE YEARS of persevering struggle on behalf of African slaves.

— John R W Stott, Issues facing Christians Today (Basingstoke: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1984), p. 334

#OTD July 29, 1833:
Death of William Wilberforce, who had done much to end slavery in British possessions.

Persuaded to join the campaign against slavery and faced with evidence of its horrors, he wrote:

"So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did the [slave] trade's… pic.twitter.com/Noaw7qZQt2

— ☧ Today in Christian History (@HistoricalRook) July 29, 2026

Let thy continual mercy, O Lord, enkindle in thy Church the never-failing gift of love, that, following the example of thy servant William Wilberforce, we may have grace to defend the poor, and maintain the cause of those who have no helper; for the sake of him who gave his life for us, thy Son our Savior Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Politician William Wilberforce died #onthisday in 1833. He is remembered for taking up the cause of abolishing slavery alongside Prime Minister Charles Grey. He is buried close to the grave of William Pitt in the Abbey’s north transept, and his statue can be found in statesmen's… pic.twitter.com/mY5QlNaZfQ

— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) July 29, 2026

Ms [Lyndall] Bywater encourages clergy to engage regularly in different types of prayer rather than “making prayer in our own image”, she says.

“Church leaders will also often have people coming to them who are struggling with prayer, and it is important to be able to help them understand how their personality interfaces with their spirituality.

“Are they essentially cataphatic: preferring knowledge and understanding? Or are they apophatic: preferring mystery and deep questioning? Do they love the task of prayer most, or the relationship of prayer? Where and how have they previously connected with God in helpful ways?

“If leaders can ask these questions and understand how to help people based on the answers, then many more people would develop a deep love for prayer.”

MOST people feel guilty about prayer, believing that they are bad at it, Ms Bywater says. Part of that comes from a “work hard, be passionate” personality, and part from comparing themselves with others, she says.

While recognising that prayer is a discipline and involves choices about making space in our lives to pray, Ms Bywater says: “What prayer is — the conversation with God — I refuse to believe it’s possible to be bad at that.

Read it all.

"One difficulty that faces ordinands as they leave the formation of their training institutions, is teaching prayer to an unchurched generation." Loved this piece. https://t.co/RfaRNaP3gB

— Madeleine Davies (@MadsDavies) July 17, 2026

An investigation into why the public have lost confidence in the Church of England is required, the General Synod heard on Monday afternoon.

The Rector of St Bartholomew’s, Smithfield, Fr Marcus Walker (London), speaking during a debate on the report Trust and Trustworthiness in the Church of England, observed that all 16 members of the laity interviewed for the report were involved in the Church’s structures (News, 3 July). They comprised six diocesan secretaries, and ten lay chairs or members of General Synod.

“The elephant in the room — the elephant herd harrumphing around the report — is all of those who are outside, alongside, walking with the household of faith,” he said.

“The people who have not lost faith from within the institution of the Church, but who have lost trust in the institution of the Church. Who have lost trust in the Church and its mission. . .

Read it all.

An investigation into why the public have lost confidence in the Church of England is required, the General #Synod heard on Monday afternoon#trust #churchnews #churchtimeshttps://t.co/mJy7udBTA3

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) July 14, 2026

In the report on Trust and Trustworthiness which we will consider as a Synod, Professor Veronica Hope Hailey and Professor David Ford have helped us to discern how trust and trustworthiness might be restored within the life of the church. Relationships of trust are the soil from which hope springs. If hope is the fruit, trust is the root. And roots grow slowly, with patience, listening, and the steady work of walking together.

Across our Church there is no shortage of passion, conviction, or commitment. Indeed, Prof Hope Hailey expresses her amazement in the report at how deeply committed you and your fellow church members are to the Church. Yet many of us would recognise that commitment is not trust, and the trust we do see is fragile. Many in the Church have been wounded. We cannot simply vote trust into existence, as if those wounds will heal with the raising of a few hands. Neither can we create hope through anxiety, fear or urgency.

Christian hope is the confidence that God is still at work, tending the soil, tilling the earth, sending the rain and the snow, planting the seed. These are all acts of hope, built on trust that God is at work even when we don’t see the results just yet. God’s word will not return empty. God is faithful – we need not act from fear; we need not act from anxiety; and we need not imagine that the future of the Church rests solely in our hands.

Read it all.

“Many in the Church have been wounded,” and, to heal, trust must be nurtured, the #ArchbishopofCanterbury said in her sermon at York Minster on Sunday, midway through the meeting of General #Synod#churchnews #churchtimes https://t.co/eMFF3imrDC

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) July 12, 2026

The Church of England this week welcomed an announcement of a government consultation in the autumn on the potential for including religious education (RE) in the National Curriculum.

Earlier this year, the National Society praised the Government’s announcement of a £4-billion investment in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision, which, it said, chimed with its “core mission” (News, 23 February).

The Church says that it will respond to the consultation on RE in the autumn, and that the National Society, which is the education office for the C of E and the Church in Wales, will work closely with its diocesan partners in the mean time.

RE currently sits outside the national curriculum, and decisions about what is taught are taken locally. But the Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has now announced that consensus has been reached among those “representing the full spectrum of religion in this country”, including the Church.

Read it all.

The Church of England this week welcomed an announcement of a government consultation in the autumn on the potential for including religious education (RE) in the National Curriculum 🍎✏️#RE #Curriculum #churchnews #churchtimes https://t.co/4AiKVtHW6o

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) July 8, 2026

Rules accompanying the new Clergy Conduct Measure will come before General Synod next month. This follows a vote in the House of Lords on Wednesday to send the Measure to the King for Royal Assent.

Notes accompanying the Rules state that the “overriding objective” at their core, “mandates that all complaints must be dealt with justly, fairly, expeditiously, and proportionately, alongside a strict duty for all parties to co-operate with the proceedings”.

A report from the Clergy Discipline Commission, also published last week, records a “significant increase” in the number of cases being referred for formal investigation — from 12 in 2024 to 25. In 2025, 119 allegations of misconduct were made under the Measure against priests or deacons, compared to 71 in 2024.

Read it all.

Rules accompanying the new Clergy Conduct Measure will come before General Synod next month. This follows a vote in the House of Lords on Wednesday to send the Measure to the King for Royal Assent#clergydiscipline #Tribunal #churchnews #ChurchTimes https://t.co/x1WTYLknx3

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) July 5, 2026

Almighty and everliving God, whose servant Thomas Cranmer, with others, did restore the language of the people in the prayers of thy Church: Make us always thankful for this heritage; and help us so to pray in the Spirit and with the understanding, that we may worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

The Episcopal Church today commemorates The First Book of Common Prayer, which was used for the first time on Pentecost Sunday in 1549

Image: Title page from the BCP, 1549 (Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons) pic.twitter.com/5oErBmWc4i

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) May 23, 2024

A new parliamentary network of cathedral cities with a remit to make a “sustained appeal” to the Government for funding support was established this week.

Cathedral deans and their constituency MPs met in Westminster on Tuesday. MPs were urged to propose a motion for debate in Parliament on the value of cathedrals to the nation. The deans also urged the Government to call on the Church’s own National Investing Bodies to meet their obligations to cathedrals.

Parliamentary debates on cathedrals have been held every year for the past few years, covering their economic contribution, choral music, maintenance, and sustainability.

Read it all.

A new parliamentary network of cathedral cities with a remit to make a “sustained appeal” to the Government for funding support was established this week.#Cathedral https://t.co/1VMa9dOhhB

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 12, 2026

Thirdly, this raises the question about the three descriptors that have been chosen in the motion and what they mean, especially if they are to include within their scope sexual relationships. 

A classic statement advocating same-sex unions (and later marriage) is that by Jeffrey John which was entitled Permanent, Faithful, Stable. These three terms are also in need of more careful definition but how significant is it that both “permanent” and “stable” are lacking here? What conclusions are to be drawn from the fact they have been replaced simply by “committed” with no explanation as to the nature or level of that commitment?

There has been a long concern about occasional and non-exclusive male same-sex sexual relationships being acceptable, including among gay Christians (see for example the 1997 work of Andrew Yip whose research with gay male Christian couples found “the majority of couples were expectationally and behaviourally non-exclusive; the recently deceased leading campaigner Malcolm Johnson expressed surprise in his Diary of a Gay Priest that “a third are physically faithful—or say they are!”). Leaving that question open is one reason the LGCM statement quoted above offered no criteria as to when expressing love fully in a sexual relationship was entirely compatible with the Christian faith (see Sean Gill, The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (Cassell, 1998), pp. 12-13).

In a world of rapidly changing sexual norms there is now much wider discussion and acceptance of “ethical non-monogamy” (ENM). As briefly explained in this “ethics explainer” from The Ethics Centre this is distinguished from “infidelity” and “cheating”. Here it is not unreasonable to ask whether those in such an ENM form of relationship might nevertheless still be able to be classed as in a “committed, faithful, intimate” form of relationship.

Read it all.

Helen King's motion for General Synod: a help or a hindrance? https://t.co/cIA8Evq875 via @psephizo

— Simon Sarmiento (@simonsarmiento) June 2, 2026

Things were different amongst Christians. The Early Church challenged the contemporary pagan culture by insisting on the same standard of sexual ethics for both men and woman. The first Christians believed, based on the teaching of Genesis 1 and 2, that marriage was to be between one man and one woman, that marriage was the only legitimate setting for sexual activity and that a single standard of sexual fidelity was required of both men and women.

That is why men are told to ‘abstain from unchastity’ (1 Thessalonians 4:4), why Paul forbids man having sex with prostitutes (1 Corinthians 6:12-20) why a bishop has to be a ‘one woman man’ (1 Timothy 5:9) just as good wives were expected to be ‘a one man woman’ (1 Timothy 5:9).To quote Larry Hurtado:

‘The decisive step taken early Christian sexual teaching was to bring males under the same sort of behavioural requirements that in the larger cultural setting were expected of ‘honourable’ women. In the matter of marital fidelity in chastity, it seems that for early Christians what was good for the goose was also thought good for the gander!’[8]

In addition, the early Christians universally rejected abortion and infant exposure.

In the words of the second century Epistle to Diognetus, ‘They [Christians] marry like everyone else and have children, but they do not expose their offspring. They share their food but not their wives.’[9]

Thus, far early Christianity was in line with Jewish tradition. However, it departed from the Jewish tradition by also holding that intentional singleness (known then as ‘virginity’), and the celibacy that went with it, was not only acceptable but, in fact, a more excellent form of Christian discipleship than being married….

Read it all.

Martin Davie–Assessing two different visions for the future of the Anglican Communion https://t.co/F3so2u4TtA 'The difference between the two views of the future of global Anglicanism put forward by the Nairobi-Cairo Proposals and The Abuja Affirmation is that the former holds… pic.twitter.com/LXTgMmiuOZ

— Kendall Harmon (@KendallHarmon6) March 16, 2026

The security situation in Mexico is “very difficult” as the World Cup approaches, the newly elected Anglican Archbishop of Mexico, the Most Revd Sally Sue Hernández, has warned, in a keynote speech at last week’s annual conference of the Anglican mission agency USPG. The theme was “For Christ is our peace”.

The tournament, hosted by Mexico, Canada, and the United States, begins on Thursday. “The situation is very difficult, with challenges including the presence of drug cartels, forced disappearances, violence against girls and women, the exclusion of indigenous communities, and armed attacks to seize territory from communities that have been displaced from their lands, among others,” said Archbishop Hernández.

“While the World Cup will generate passion, and some economic activity, there will be no profound changes or answers to the true needs of the Mexican people.”

Read it all.

The security situation in Mexico is “very difficult” as the World Cup approaches, the newly elected Anglican Archbishop of Mexico, the Most Revd Sally Sue Hernández, has warned, in a keynote speech at last week’s annual conference of USPG.https://t.co/C5yF8j9mpv

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 8, 2026

the regulation of new funerary methods — including “water cremations” and human composting — has been recommended by the Law Commission of England and Wales.

The independent statutory body, set up to keep the law under review and to make recommendations to the Government, published on Thursday a report on reforming new funerary methods. It was preceded by a consultation paper, published last June, which received 124 responses from faith communities, funeral directors, local authorities, industry bodies, and members of the public.

Currently, the law in England and Wales recognises only burial, cremation, and, though less common, burial at sea. New funerary methods are alternatives to these, such as alkaline hydrolysis (sometimes known as “water cremation”) and human composting, which are not currently covered by any specific legal framework, but which are available in certain other jurisdictions. In Scotland, for example, regulations have recently been made enabling the use of alkaline hydrolysis.

Read it all.

The regulation of new funerary methods — including “water cremations” and human composting — has been recommended by the #LawCommission of England and Wales#funerarymethods #watercremations #humancomposting #churchnews #churchtimes https://t.co/nnqdTBvWWF

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 4, 2026

When fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began in April 2023, Sefain Nagy took shelter at St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in the Masalma area of Omdurman, a city in east central Sudan.

At least 25 other Christians huddled there with Nagy, including 15 orphaned girls ages 10 to 25 already living at the church, several middle-aged women, and six elderly men. At night, the frightened group gathered in the church’s sanctuary to sing hymns and pray. They rarely had enough food to eat or access to drinking water, but a group of young Christian men arranged for low-cost meals from community kitchens, locally called takkiyas, to be delivered to them despite constant shelling.

Then a month later, at about 10:30 p.m., Nagy heard the roar of a car carrying five members of the paramilitary group RSF pulling up to the church. The militia shot at the church’s walls, smashed the front door, and forced their way into the building.

“They asked us, ‘What are you here for?’” Nagy recalled. “I told [them] we had prayer. We were praying.”

The RSF soldiers then beat the Christians, grabbed jewelry from the women, and attempted to take away the orphaned girls. When Nagy resisted them by trying to block them from entering the girls’ rooms and leaving the church, one of the soldiers hit his head from behind with a gun and shot him in the right leg. Then the RSF tried to drive off with the girls in one of the cars parked at the church, but the engine failed.

“Thank God the car wouldn’t start, and they couldn’t take the orphan girls,” Nagy said…

Read it all.

As Sudan’s civil war forces millions from their homes, basic needs are dwindling in camps for internally displaced persons.https://t.co/POHC4hOhC9

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) May 18, 2026

O God, steadfast in the midst of persecution, by whose providence the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church: As the martyrs of the Sudan refused to abandon Christ even in the face of torture and death, and so by their sacrifice brought forth a plenteous harvest, may we, too, be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ; who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Almighty God, you gave your servants, the holy martyrs of Sudan, boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: … pic.twitter.com/7Whp12CMLn

— The Seabury Society (@SeaburySociety) May 16, 2020

Exceeding glorious Father and Lord, who deckest thyself with light as with a garment; who spreadest out the heavens like a curtain: mighty creator of this and every world, of all stars and planets in their courses: We thy children render unto thee our praise and honour for the wonder of thy handiwork — for the beauty of creation, and at this season most especially for the blessing of new life and hope, visible in the face of our mother the earth as she awakens to Spring. In her awakening we see Christ triumphant over death. In her we see the rejoicing of St Mary Magdalen, first witness of the Resurrection. In her we see the fruitfulness of our most blessèd and glorious Lady the Virgin Mary — through whom thou hast given us the Light of the World, the light that shineth in darkness, the Word Made Flesh. As City and Universities, in unity and concord, we celebrate before thee today the birth of an earthly morning. We pray thee, use the beauty of this creation to knit our hearts to the things that endure to eternity, that we may rejoice at the dawning of the endless day of the kingdom of thy Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

You can listen to the whole thing here:

Almighty God, we give you thanks for the ministry of Arthur Michael Ramsey, who labored that the Church of Jesus Christ might be one: Grant that we, instructed by his teaching and example, and knit together in unity by your Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit ever one God, Amen (moved from Friday).

27 June 1961. Michael Ramsey was enthroned as the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury. His first name (which he didn't use) was Arthur, pic.twitter.com/6QEmgHhdPf

— Prof. Frank McDonough (@FXMC1957) June 27, 2017

O gracious Father, who gave Saint Donnan the grace to serve as a faithful witness and capable leader even unto death, grant us the strength to follow his example of persevering witness, through Christ our Lord. who with you and the Holy Spirit ever liveth and reigneth in glory everlasting, Amen.

Apr 17: Feast of Donnán and companions (†617), slain on the Isle of Eigg. The ravaging of Toraighe (Tory Island) and burning of Condairi (Connor, County Antrim) in the same year suggest a sea-borne conflagration afflicting the Hebrides and north coast of Ireland. 📸LJ Cunningham pic.twitter.com/DtjGiY0yoa

— North Ages (@NorthAges) April 17, 2026

Almighty and everlasting God, we thank thee for thy servant George Augustus Selwyn, whom thou didst call to preach the Gospel to the peoples of New Zealand and Melanesia, and to lay a firm foundation for the growth of thy Church in many nations. Raise up, we beseech thee, in this and every land evangelists and heralds of thy kingdom, that thy Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Died #OTD in 1878: George Augustus Selwyn, 1st Bishop of New Zealand https://t.co/DX3L3ZYTeg

Selwyn was the 1st Bishop of New Zealand (1841-68) before being appointed Bishop of Lichfield on his return to England. Selwyn College Cambridge, est. in his memory, opened in Oct 1882. pic.twitter.com/VkpyA574LM

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) April 11, 2023

If I had a Son in Court, or married a daughter into a plentifull Fortune, I were satisfied for that son or that daughter. Shall I not be so, when the King of Heaven hath taken that sone to himselfe, and married himselfe to that daughter, for ever? I spend none of my Faith, I exercise none of my Hope, in this, that I shall have my dead raised to life againe. This is the faith that sustains me, when I lose by the death of others, and we, are now all in one Church, and at the resurrection, shall be all in one Quire.

–John Donne (1572-1631) [my emphasis]

Happy easter everyone…

Caravaggio pic.twitter.com/zvEWthyHY5

— Ahmet Duran Hergün (@AhmetDuranHergn) April 5, 2026

Almighty Father,
look with mercy on this your family
for which our Lord Jesus Christ was content to be betrayed
and given up into the hands of sinners
and to suffer death upon the cross;
who is alive and glorified with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Good Friday

This is one of the greatest days from the beginning of the world to its end. He was scourged, crowned with thorns, carried the cross to Calvary amid taunts, was nailed to the cross between two thieves, and by His painful death finished the great work of redemption. pic.twitter.com/G1fvTD3BJ0

— Memento Mori (@TempusFugit4016) April 3, 2026

In a statement suggesting the enormity of Canterbury’s failure to be a focus for unity, the former archbishop Rowan Williams recently admitted: “I honestly don’t know whether the communion will survive.” Such a statement from a former leader of the Church of England reflects the gravity of the current crisis. It is not merely a matter of internal disagreement but a question about the very future of Anglicanism.

A significant turning point came in 2023 when the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) issued what became known as the Ash Wednesday Statement. In this declaration, the GSFA announced that it would no longer recognize the archbishop of Canterbury as primus inter pares and the head of the Anglican Communion. This decision marked a historic shift: The symbolic center of Anglican unity was effectively withdrawn by churches representing the majority of Anglicans worldwide.

The roots of this shift are not only historical but also theological and structural. The traditional configuration of the Anglican Communion emerged during the era of the British Empire. During that time, the Church of England functioned naturally as a coordinating center for Anglican churches established through missionary and colonial expansion. However, the global context has changed dramatically. The demographic center of Anglicanism has moved decisively to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Today, the vast majority of Anglicans live in what is commonly called the Global South.

The departure of several western provinces from the traditional Anglican faith inevitably raises questions about unity, governance, and authority.

Read it all.

Canterbury and the Collapse of Anglican Unity
by Mouneer Anis @bishopmouneer https://t.co/5oNTQIwrz3 pic.twitter.com/LVjAFzbJjP

— First Things (@firstthingsmag) March 31, 2026

Almighty God, the root and fountain of all being: Open our eyes to see, with thy servant John Donne, that whatsoever hath any being is a mirror in which we may behold thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

“Then, as my soul to heaven, her first seat, takes flight,
And earth-born body in the earth shall dwell,
So fall my sins, that all may have their right,
To where they’are bred, and would press me, to hell…”
John Donne, died 31 March 1631#johndonne #poem pic.twitter.com/quP2lXIVW3

— Peter Parker (@PParkerWriting) March 31, 2026

Grant, O God, that in all time of our testing we may know thy presence and obey thy will; that, following the example of thy servant John Keble, we may accomplish with integrity and courage that which thou givest us to do, and endure that which thou givest us to bear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Did you know that John Keble was only the second person to ever obtain a double first (in 1810 in Latin and Mathematics) from the University of Oxford? (The first was Robert Peel who later went on to become Prime Minister) #Keble150 #KebleArchives pic.twitter.com/oJvz2cav3W

— Keble College, Oxford (@KebleOxford) April 25, 2020

Six months after the announcement in Canterbury Cathedral that the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, had been nominated as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury (News, 10 October 2025), the new Primate returned to the city to be installed in her new cathedral.

Although her election was confirmed in January (News, 30 January), the enthronement on Wednesday marks the symbolic start of her public ministry. She makes history as the first woman to hold the position in 1400 years.

The Archbishop had arrived on foot in Canterbury as a pilgrim on Sunday, six days after setting out from St Paul’s Cathedral with her husband, Eamonn, and a small party of supporters. On Sunday, about 100 people joined her on the outskirts of the city for the last part of the journey to her cathedral, where she was greeted by the Mayor, the Dean, and the Bishop of Dover. Dressed informally in walking clothes and boots, she pronounced herself “relieved” to have completed the 87-mile journey, telling the BBC: “It’s been a real joy. It’s also a joy to know that we’re done.”

The service on Wednesday — attended by more than 2000 people — was an altogether more formal occasion, full of pomp and pageantry

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Dame Sarah Mullally is to be installed as the first ever female leader of the Church of England at Canterbury Cathedral.

More here: https://t.co/Lys2LnMGBY pic.twitter.com/LhEOtve4KJ

— BBC Kent (@BBCRadioKent) March 25, 2026

Radical  reform of the National Church Institutions (NCIs), including the abolition of the Archbishops’ Council, has been halted after the parliamentary Ecclesiastical Committee deemed the legislation “not expedient”.

Writing to General Synod members last week, the Secretary General of the Archbishops’ Council, William Nye, relayed that the Legislative Committee of the Synod (the body responsible for submitting Measures to Parliament for approval) had decided not to seek to reintroduce the National Church Governance Measure at the July group of sessions in York.

“In light of the Ecclesiastical Committee’s expressed position, and the absence of clarity that amendments would resolve its concerns, the Committee concluded that reintroduction at this time would not be a simple or straightforward matter,” he wrote.

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Radical reform of the National Church Institutions, including the abolition of the Archbishops’ Council, has been halted after the parliamentary Ecclesiastical Committee deemed the legislation “not expedient”. #DannyKruger #Parliament https://t.co/CVRGqeqzEU

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) March 20, 2026

It is, Rowan Williams assures me, a coincidence that his new book will be published three days after the installation of Sarah Mullally as Archbishop of Canterbury. “I will not be attending,” he says. “You don’t want to be Marley’s ghost.”

Yet, fittingly – since that book takes solidarity as its theme – this priest, poet and critic is keen to empathise with Mullally, the first female Archbishop, in the weight of challenges she faces. “Every archbishop starts, like every president or prime minister: with expectations being thrown at them,” he recalls of his time at Lambeth Palace from 2002 to 2012. “Realising you’re not going to be able to meet them is part of the job. It is no walk in the park.”

Williams, who now lives in Cardiff with his theologian wife Jane, comes across as gentler, kinder and more self-deprecating than I remember him from his episcopal tenure. He used to make regular headlines, his every utterance and act picked apart. His 2011 dismissal of David Cameron’s “Big Society” initiative as “painfully stale” had the Conservative benches in uproar. Today, as we sit talking in a book-lined reception room at his publisher’s London office, he stands out from the colourful backdrop in his black clerical shirt and trousers, with a simple cross hanging round his neck. Those monkish eyebrows remain as untamed as ever.

The two biggest issues in Mullally’s in-tray, Williams tells me, are the same ones he tried but failed to settle during his turbulent decade in post: women’s ordination and what he refers to as “the same-sex question”. With the first, he feels, at least in England, “some of the bitterness has gone out of it”. Not, though, in much of the 85-million-strong worldwide Anglican Communion, over which the Archbishop of Canterbury also presides, with some provinces muttering about schism. “I honestly don’t know whether the Communion will survive,” he says bluntly.

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"Is he saying that British public life has lost its moral centre? “Yes,” he replies, boldly and without any caveat. “Increasingly, we permit and collude with dishonourable forms of behaviour, and we don’t seem very concerned about that.”" Rowan Williams: ‘I don’t know whether the…

— Mark Lambert (@sitsio) March 17, 2026